Courtney pleased by debut

When Bruce Courtney was hired as the boys basketball coach at Basehor-Linwood High School, he was surprised by how much things seemed the same.

He already knew the players, he already knew the system and he even knew directions to all of the gyms the Bobcats would be traveling to this year.

What he didn't know, however, was how overwhelming the feeling would be when he stepped onto the court for the first game of his tenure as the varsity head coach.

"It really hit me all at once," Courtney said after the Bobcats lost 59-43 to open the season. "You run through an awful lot of emotions from the beginning of the game to the end and they all came over me at once."

Despite the Bobcats' loss, however, Courtney said the majority of the emotions he felt were pleasant. He said he was proud of how hard his players battled and competed. He said he was proud of how much his assistants helped him out. And he said he was proud of the way his team represented BLHS.

The players, some who are playing for their third head coach in as many seasons, said they were impressed by Courtney's first outing as their head man.

"He has so much enthusiasm to win," senior Eric Peeler said. "He wants to win every night we play and we can really see that. It's great to play for a coach like that."

Senior Jake Hills, who's dad Don Hills was the BLHS coach two years ago, said it has been kind of difficult adjusting to a new coach each season, but that Courtney has made the latest transition an easy one.

"They're all different," Hills said of playing for three coaches in three years. "But we've been able to adapt in the past and so far this season coach Courtney has made it easy to adapt again."

With a couple of games under his belt, Courtney said he's starting to get used to life on the sideline as the varsity coach and he's loving it.

"I'm really pleased with what we have to work with and I'm happy that it finally got here," Courtney said. "I've been waiting for a while and now that I've seen what we've got I think we're going to have a great season."